Thoughts on this photograph

[sweathog]

In discussion with an old friend, he mentioned some of my photographs that he really liked. One in particular that he commented on is the one that I will post below, and I wondered what you fine people thought of it.

The Storm

See bigger.


Here's a square crop, following some people's suggestions.

 

[Ahmed Poltroon]

I think you are too young to be suffering from such profound melancholia.

There are billions of other girls, they were put here for you, they're waiting for you, it's your fault if you don't take them.

 

[sweathog]

I think you are too young to be suffering from such profound melancholia.

There are billions of other girls, they were put here for you, they're waiting for you, it's your fault if you don't take them.

Excuse me?

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

:lol: we have our nonsequitur of the day!

I like that picture, sweathog. If it were mine I wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to straighten the horizon in photoshop. And I think it would be better in B&W, and perhaps I'd crop the blur at bottom right out, leaving a vertical aspect that focuses just on the blurry person in the foreground and the in-focus couple in the background.

But it's a weird awkward moment, which is generally what I like to look at, and you got a good expsure too, with both whites and blacks on the edge of clipping and the figures in a nice haze.

 

[sweathog]

Thank you mabelsound.
I have thought about tidying up the shot in PS, but I'm not sure if I could bring myself to do it. It just doesn't seem right to me.

 

[rbiemer]

I'm not so sure about BW conversion of this one, mabelsound; I like the green light coming from the cab office and how that plays to the green trafficlights.
Possibly crop to a square, leaving the right edge just at the edge of the office window--just where the end of the sign above is.
Not my usual kind of photo but I like it maybe because I can "read" a story into it( that certainly has nothing to do with what was really happening), and not necessarily a melancholy one.
Rob

 

[ErnestoJL]

I like the picture.
Perhaps better in B&W, and with some cropping at left to eliminate the car, and on the right as Rbiemer said, just at the end of the lighted sign.

Cheers

Ernesto

 

[sweathog]

I'm surprised at how you guys seem to say BW. I just can't see it working in BW at all...

 

[Peter_Jones]

I thought B&W at first, but I think it's much more atmospheric in colour - it looks a typically miserable damp Northern night, with a bit of an edgy atmosphere. I wouldn't straighten it either, but a square crop would look good IMO. 🙂

 

[sweathog]

I thought B&W at first, but I think it's much more atmospheric in colour - it looks a typically miserable damp Northern night, with a bit of an edgy atmosphere. I wouldn't straighten it either, but a square crop would look good IMO. 🙂

You'll be surprised, then, when I tell you when and where this was taken.
Summer of 2008, in Eastbourne, on the south coast.

[PS Peter, I will PM you about that J3, don't worry.]

 

[Ahmed Poltroon]

It's "non sequitur".

Look at the photograph, then look at his blog and website.

 

[sweathog]

It's "non sequitur".

Look at the photograph, then look at his blog and website.

None of the people in that photograph are Beth.
However, I might as well explain. If people can make that leap of assumption I'd better clarify. You'll excuse my melancholy. I moved to a new town to live with her. She left me 3 weeks ago, and I'm now stuck somewhere I know very few people, miles away from most of my friends. If you want to make it about my personal life, do so. But try to get your information right first, eh? That way you don't annoy people.

 

[ErnestoJL]

Tom: many years ago my first teacher on photography (my father) showed me in a book what he was unable to do: to get a picture in B&W where you can guess the colours in it without the need to see them.
That´s why I think allways about B&W.

Cheers

Ernesto

 

[Sparrow]

It's "non sequitur".

Look at the photograph, then look at his blog and website.

I think that’s insensitive to the point of bad taste

 

[sweathog]

I've been playing around with it, looking at converting to BW, but however I tweak it, it just isn't pleasing to my eye. I really have tried guys, believe me.

 

[Peter_Jones]

I wouldn't have guessed at Eastbourne - looks like Morecambe on a good night 😀

 

[sweathog]

I think that’s insensitive to the point of bad taste

Thank you Stewart.

 

[sweathog]

I wouldn't have guessed at Eastbourne - looks like Morecambe on a good night 😀

Nope, really Eastbourne.
Two streets over from the prom, under a five minute walk from the sea.

 

[tightsqueez]

The photograph is a subtle moment. And never mind my varying perspective as a viewer, the photographer isn't the only one with individualistic intentions.

It took a second but the image says to me that on a warm evening a couple returning from a party or a bar, decide to walk home in the rain. The lovely part is it looks as if they are laughing and without a care run right past a taxi cab business.

While the image isn't stylized in form, it does get the point across in a simple way. I'd say leave the image the way it is, at least for now. The color adds to that evening mood, where as converting to black and white would consume this feeling. Sure, there is nothing wrong with cropping but so as to not reduce the image with the elements that give rise to depth, i.e. foreground objects.

Cheers!

 

[sweathog]

The photograph is a subtle moment. And never mind my varying perspective as a viewer, the photographer isn't the only one with individualistic intentions.

It took a second but the image says to me that on a warm evening a couple returning from a party or a bar, decide to walk home in the rain. The lovely part is it looks as if they are laughing and without a care run right past a taxi cab business.

While the image isn't stylized in form, it does get the point across in a simple way. I'd say leave the image the way it is, at least for now. The color adds to that evening mood, where as converting to black and white would consume this feeling. Sure, there is nothing wrong with cropping but so as to not reduce the image with the elements that give rise to depth, i.e. foreground objects.

Cheers!

Thank you for your very detailed comments.
If you could clarify on what you mean by 'stylised', just for my own understanding.
Cheers,
Tom